Their Raven

Chapter 32

Damon couldn't sleep.

He had tried—God, had he tired—but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Kol. His smirk. The damn kiss. The way it wasn't just heat, but something real. Dangerous, too, because it wasn't just Kol. It was Klaus's possessive glances, Elijah's quiet watching, the feeling of being surrounded by people who saw him.

The feeling of being wanted.

And he didn't know what to do with that.

So now he was pacing in nothing but black sweatpants and a white tank, barefoot, hair a mess, wearing a scowl that was more exhaustion than anger. Then moonlight cut through the slats in the window, shadowing his path as he crossed back and forth, over and over.

He dragged a hand through his hand. "What the hell am I doing here?"

He stopped. Rubbed the back of his neck. Looked around the pristine, stupidly elegant room that didn't feel like his. And then it happened.

A sharp pulse inside his chest, but deeper. Magical. Like something under his skin responding to a voice that wasn't spoken aloud. Damon stumbled, grabbing the edge of the dresser as the air around him shifted. It wasn't dark magic. It wasn't pain. It was pulling.

He gasped, breath stuck in his throat, panic spiking as the magic threaded through his veins. It felt ancient. Powerful. Familiar in a way that left him shaking.

Then it was gone.

Damon stood in silence, chest rising and falling, staring at nothing, because what the hell had that been?

He didn't sleep the rest of the night.

The sun was already climbing by the time Bonnie and Stefan walked into the grand salon of the Mikealson mansion.

Kol lounged on the edge of the couch with the lazy tension he always wore. Elijah stood near the fireplace, unreadable as ever. Klaus paced slowly near the window like a caged wolf—and Damon?

Damon looked like he hadn't slept a second. "Alright," Bonnie said, gaze snapping to him. "Talk." Damon didn't bother with pleasantries. "Last night... something reached for me. Magic."

"What kind of magic?" Stefan asked, stepping forward.

"I don't know," Damon replied. "It wasn't mine. It didn't hurt. It was... familiar. Like something old woke up in me. Like it knew me."

Bonnie's face went still. "Describe what it felt like."

"Like something ancient wrapped itself around me," Damon said, low and raw. "Like something was searching for me, but from inside my blood."

Kol sat forward. "That's a Le Rouge spell. I read about something like that once in 1703"

Bonnie nodded slowly. "You're right, I found out some interesting things in an old grimore. It's called a blood call. A spell used by Le Rouges to locate their kin. Only a blood relative can cast it—and only someone with Le Rouge magic can feel it."

Silence fell for a moment.

Elijah finally spoke. "So someone... a family member... is trying to find Damon." "That's not possible." Stefan said, shaking his head. "All our family is gone. Our parents are dead."

Damon stayed quiet, jaw tight. Bonnie looked at him, eyes narrowing. "Damon. You know something?"

Damon let out a breath and turned to Stefan. "I didn't want you to find out, we have different fathers, Stef."

Stefan blinked. "What?" Damon spoke softly, but the edge in his voice was real. " I only remembered recently, I think my magic helped me...Our mother met someone before she married Giuseppe. In Italy. Castelmazzano. She was only fourteen when she met him. They fell in love. Had me. But he had to leave. She wouldn't say why."

He glanced at Bonnie, then Kol, then Klaus and finally Elijah. "I was 6 when she came back to America. Married Giuseppe. Took his name. He insisted I have it. Beat it into me when I resisted."

Stefan stared at him in disbelief.

Klaus growled low, the sound rippling out of his chest. His eyes flashed gold, hybrid features surfacing for just a second. "He beat you... because you weren't his?"

Damon met his eyes. "Yeah. Said I was her mistake. But I wasn't allowed to be anything else. Had to be a Salvatore. Had to earn the name."

Stefan looked horrified. "I didn't know."

"Of course not. You were the golden child." Damon's voice softened. "It wasn't your fault. I didn't want to burden you."

Bonnie sat next to Damon. "What about your real father?"

Damon swallowed. "I remember that she used to tell me bedtime stories about him. Said I looked just like him when I got angry. Said he had this kind of power to him that scared people—but not her. Said he loved her more than anything, but something was chasing him. So he left... to keep us safe."

He paused. "She used to speak to me in Italian sometimes, when Giuseppe wasn't around, hated when we didn't speak English. I remember thinking she was so much happier when she talked about him."

Bonnie inhaled slowly. "It makes sense that it could be your father." Elijah nodded. "And he used a spell that only Le Rouge blood can cast."

"That's why it felt familiar," Damon said. "Because if it is my father whoever he is and whatever magic is in me... came from him."

Kol rose from the couch, his expression for once without a smirk. "That means he's alive. Somewhere. And he wants his son back." Klaus leaned on the wall, tone guttural. "And if he wants you—others might too. You don't know what else is tied to your bloodline."

Damon exhaled sharply. "That's what scares me."

Bonnie was already flipping through a grimoire. "We need to take that magic if we can. Figure out where it came from." Stefan sat down slowly, still stunned. "So this go be... your real dad. And he's a Le Rouge."

"Yeah," Damon said. "And if he is. He's not just looking for me. He found me."

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Hello my darlings. Longer chapter for you but this is more of a filler chapter I guess just boring talking and all. I hope you still like it though and I'm thinking about triple uploading today what do you think?